The filmmaker as restaurateur
Online-generated sales kept Wangfu Bistro from closing down during the pandemic, according to its owner Lester Pimentel Ong.
He said the Singaporean-Chinese restaurant, which now has 11 branches all over Luzon, was one of the first merchants found on food delivery apps. “I didn’t really believe in it back then, nakikiuso lang. We didn’t see any significant change in sales until the pandemic happened, when we started receiving lots of orders online. This kept us alive,” Ong told Lifestyle.
Wang and fu are two separate Chinese words that loosely translate to “prince” and “place” or “a royal courtyard.”
Ong said there’s another meaning that’s closer to his heart.
“My surname, Ong, is pronounced as wang in Mandarin. Also, Ace, my business partner, carries the Chinese name Wang Yan-bin. We combined wang with fu to mean ‘wang’s place,’ or our place,” he explained.
Ong, who is also a film and TV director, co-owns the restaurant chain with Singaporean action and stunt director Ace Wang and actor Richard Yap.
When they opened Wangfu’s first branch on Timog Avenue in Quezon City 12 years ago, Ong said it was only because they couldn’t find any good Chinese restaurant around the area that still served late at night.
“Also, at that time, the Filipino restaurant that Ace and I were running in Singapore, called Bonifacio Chinese-Filipino Cuisine, was experiencing challenges. We couldn’t get working visas for our Filipino staff, so we moved the restaurant here. Instead of a Filipino-themed establishment, we thought of serving Singaporean food,” Ong said.
Neighborhood resto
Wangfu was eventually put up to cater to those who live in the surrounding neighborhood. When more branches were opened, it became a family restaurant.
“It has since become the favorite of grandparents, aunts and uncles, moms and dads. This is because Wangfu offers a variety of food in huge servings. It’s so fulfilling to see diners who eat at Wangfu with their colleagues on weekdays return during the weekend with their families. That’s the affirmation we get,” Ong pointed out.
Wang would constantly bring in chefs from Singapore to develop new dishes for the restaurant; its latest offering is the pearl river fish.
“We study what diners want to eat. We serve both dim sum and stir-fry dishes. The chefs assigned to make dim sum are different from those who make stir-fry. We hired a Chinese-Malaysian dim sum master to study, redesign, or come up with new flavors,” said Ong.
As for the stir-fry dishes, an executive chef from Mott 32, one of the world’s most awarded modern Chinese restaurants, was commissioned to train the Wangfu team.
Ong, who is also a former national wushu artist and coach, said the same concept applies to filmmaking.
“You continue to work on improving your craft, and you collaborate with the best people. Yes, you have control of everything as the director, but you need the input of your actors, cinematographer, production designer, and everyone in order to make a good project. In this case, we value the contributions of our culinary team, servers, and even their trainers,” he explained.
Team effort
“We aim for our restaurants to be experiential, from the ambiance to even the colors of the plates. The ceiling fans, for example, are really more about giving diners a nostalgic feel,” Ong said.
While he would hire a production designer to execute his vision as a director, he also needed the help of an expert—in this case, an interior designer—to “transport” Wangfu’s diners to “that little shop house in Singapore” while they’re eating.
“I wanted Wangfu to have a very casual vibe. I don’t want tablecloths or chairs with elaborate back boards. Everything you see here is very intentional. Back then, I would even go to shop houses in Singapore, feel the ambiance, eat their food, take lots of photos, and then show them to my designers. One time, I flew them there to personally take in the whole thing.”
It was during this part of the interview that we told Ong that, as he tried to orient us about his life as a restaurateur, he would occasionally refer to filmmaking as a way to further explain his ideas.
